“Raze” is an exercise in screen savagery. It’s bound to attract some extra attention due to its large female cast, with horrifying violence typically the playground of men, making the picture a novelty in this day and age. However, it’s not a film to be taken lightly, as director Josh C. Waller (making his feature-length debut) approaches the material with a solemnity that’s penetrating, investing in raw aggression to snap viewers to attention, watching the characters beat one another into bloody pulps. “Raze” is strong stuff, but also briskly paced and interested in the psychological ramifications of such unrelenting brutality.

Deep in the bowels of a concrete facility, 50 women are being held against their will, forced to fight one another while Joseph (Doug Jones) and Elizabeth (Sherilyn Fenn) coordinate the violence, feeding their bloodlust as a tribute to their secret society. Threatened with the murder of her estranged daughter, Sabrina (Zoe Bell) is pushed into battle, tortured with the idea of beating innocents, but aware she’s locked in a disturbing “kill or be killed” situation, embarking on a series of matches that test her physical strength and mental stamina. While a bully such as Phoebe (Rebecca Marshall) is so blissfully whacked-out, she welcomes the opportunity to take lives, Sabrina can’t take the suffering, while her fellow fighters (including Tracie Thoms, Rachel Nichols, and Rosario Dawson) hash out an escape attempt as the numbers dwindle to only a few combatants. Read More Review